Disappointment in MetroWest

2013 October 16

by Rick Holmes

I’m waiting on more reporting before deciding what went wrong with Karen Spilka’s campaign for the U.S. House. I will say that this time MetroWest had a candidate respected by all who know her, and the district had been redesigned to give more weight to MetroWest towns (including Framingham, Natick, Ashland, Holliston, Wayland and Southborough). It was a big field, and none of the five top Democrats had an obvious advantage in name recognition or geographical base.

But outside MetroWest, Karen got swamped. She had thought labor endorsements would help, but they didn’t. She was outspent, and apparently out-organized. I’m looking for voter turnout numbers by town, to see how much GOTV made the difference. The winner, Katherine Clark, had more money – including a big contribution from herself, I’m told – had Emily’s list support and a Globe endorsement. Now she has a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for as long as she wants it.

Never heard of her. I got mailings from at least 2 other candidates but I don’t recall a single item from Clark.

Initial impressions:
– “Everyone I know voted for Spilka, how could she have lost?” Maybe people in Metrowest assumed she was a done deal and didn’t bother to vote?
– Metrowest is completely marginalized by Cambridge / north of Boston suburbs.

By the way, since I’m required to pay for my own recycling, all of those mailings cost me money. Thanks!

I know you liked the idea of a candidate with more roots in the metrowest stepping to the fore, but the campaign as a whole, not just Senator Spilka’s mind you, never really engaged the voting public. There was zero excitement outside the very narrow ranks of Democratic Party activists. At a time when Congress as an institution itself wasn’t exactly doing much to inspire, the conversation didn’t seem to matter much to most people.

Having gone to one of the candidate forums, I will say, Clark did not win this on her compelling command and conviction when it comes to issues. In a district so far flung and diverse she just mobilized more troops. I reallly wonder if it’s predictive of the genneral election result and all following election in perpetuity as you suggest.

The problem is that in Massachusetts being elected to the Congress becomes a life time sinecure. So we can look forward to 24 years, maybe 34, maybe 44, of lock out. For all the moaning about the Tea Party and secure seats, Massachusetts is just as bad. When I was preparing my campaign for the old Fifth District, it was dismaying at how poorly that district was drawn, but I still had a good shot at winning the election based upon a somewhat even handed political split that has occurred since the last redistricting. And along came the new redistricting, and served as a corrective in terms of further splitting republican areas and areas of common interest. The real loser yesterday was the entire Commonwealth. We have a weak delegation already, and Karen was the only candidate likely to be a strong and independent voice. As we’ve seen in the last three weeks, Congress needs more smart worker bees. Say what you want about the Tea Party, they are getting strong grades for constituent service, something that is utterly lacking in Massachusetts. I don’t Clark could find Massachusetts on a map, and I don’t think she is going to give a damn what her constituents out here say when I have to call on her in Washington.

Which, Tom, is sold to MetroWest businesses who need that access. I don’t represent the ExxonMobils of this world–I represent the smaller corporations and businesses from your home town. And that’s who is being shut out. And I’ll tell you the implication of that–those companies will leave town. One of the things that companies consider in their headquartering decisions is what the constituent service is like in DC. Elizabeth Warren doesn’t give a damn about anything but her personal agenda, which is why Warren and Markey may herald the end of a massive defense industry in Massachusetts, and a departure of at least three Fortune 500 headquarters who are looking for greener pastures. My guess is that you don’t have a clue how important those representatives in DC are to local jobs and local priorities.

Rick, the fun part of the job is that it just doesn’t matter. The folks I criticize also solicit my clients for campaign funds. Which means that when I have to go speak to them, they grin and smile and are civil the way lawyers always are to each other. We can kill each other later. Truth is, if someone paid me enough to meet with Obama, he would be perfectly civil and attentive.

Once again last night I heard someone quoting some knowing campaign operative as speculating how a low voter turnout was a good sign in terms of their strategies and projections on how to win an election contest. When you hear that kind of talk you have to realize it isn’t just the candidates who didn’t win who have failed.

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